Local Briefs: Columbia road to temporarily close

A section of Old Sunnyside Lane from Sunnyside Drive to Trotwood Avenue will be closed Friday for drainage work.

A section of Old Sunnyside Lane from Sunnyside Drive to Trotwood Avenue will be closed Friday for drainage work.

The road will be open to local traffic only during the road closing, according to a Columbia Public Works Department press release.

If weather delays the project, the closing will be put off until March 25.

More information may be obtained by calling (931) 388-8650.

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Great American Cleanup slated

Keep Maury Beautiful is seeking volunteers to participate in the Great American Cleanup, scheduled this year for April 20.

The organization will provide bags, vests, signs and gloves, and McDonald’s will give a coupon to participants to purchase lunch. Anyone can participate, including school groups, scout troops, businesses, churches and individuals. A straight shaft gas trimmer and four cycle backpack blower donated by Troy Bilt will be raffled off.

Supplies may be picked up between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the Memorial Building in downtown Columbia. Supplies will also be handed out at that location on the day of the event between 8 a.m. and 11 a.m. More information may be obtained by calling Billie Lovett at (931) 388-8511.

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Maury Dems to elect new officers

The Maury County Democratic Party will elect new leaders at a Biennial Reorganization Convention to elect new leaders on April 13.

The meeting is scheduled from 10 a.m.-noon in the Bethel Room on the second floor of the Matthews Building, 10 Public Square, Columbia.

Local Democrats will elect a new chairperson, three vice chairpersons, recording and corresponding secretaries, a treasurer, and members of an executive committee — all to a two-year term. Members will also discuss the party’s goals for the year and important events planned for 2013.

All Democratic Party supporters who are residents of Maury County are urged to attend.

More information may be obtained by calling Greg Hanners at (931) 215-2148 or Pame Moore-Morrow at (931) 626-5836.

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Survey eyes

teacher spending

Professional Educators of Tennessee is conducting a two-question survey to measure the hidden costs of teaching.

According to a press release, the intent of the questionnaire is to tally the expenses teachers incur from their own paychecks, which is not typically discussed in education policy debates. In fact, most teachers routinely spend money out of their own pockets, the agency reports.

The survey for educators is online at www.surveymonkey.com/s/PETspendingsurvey.

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Middle Tenn.

cities, counties see growth

Several Middle Tennessee cities and counties have defied the economic downturn of recent years and instead experienced rapid growth, a regional planning organization reported.

According to information from Cumberland Region Tomorrow, a nonprofit planning agency in Middle Tennessee, the city of Clarksville was cited in a recent study as the second-fastest growing city in the nation from 2011-2012 — burgeoning 3.7 percent to 277,700 people.

The study released by Smart Growth America, a coalition of state and local organizations focused on community growth, analyzed census data in metropolitan areas with populations under one million. Clarksville was cited for its historic downtown, “complete with locally owned shops, restaurants … and an artist co-operative founded in 2001 to bring creative vibrancy to the area.”

A growth plan adopted by the city in 2010 also aided the city in its development, the report read. In addition, Cumberland Region Tomorrow reported that Montgomery, Williamson, Wilson and Rutherford counties were ranked in the nation’s top 100 for population growth in the past three years.

“… Many regional leaders acknowledge the interplay between the strong independent efforts of cities like Clarksville and the economic powerhouse that Nashville has become,” the agency wrote in a newsletter.